July 22-23Crescent City, California - Redwoods National ParkBefore we began this trip we made a list of the places we wanted to see. The Redwood trees of Northern California were at the top of the list. Sherri had pretty much decided that we would not get the chance to see the Redwoods on this trip but was pleasantly surprised when we realized how close we were. To get the full effect of the forest, we decided to finally have a go at camping. After all, we had been carrying around all this camping stuff for 2 months. Once again we lucked into the last space available in the Mills Creek recreation area. Unfortunately, our sight was smack dab between 4 families whose kids were competing with each other for who could be the most annoying. While the high pitched squealing of the 8 yr old girls was only outdone by the ear piercing tantrum of the 2 yr old, we decided that the most annoying were the parents who didn't seem to care that it was 4 am!!

! There must have been 10 kids among them. They cried and whined all night and then screamed all day. Instant birth control!! We did, however, get to hear some storytelling from a Quinalt Indian woman that the forest rangers arranged. Took a 6-mile hike through the Jedediah Smith State Park to see the Fern Waterfall. The waterfall was less than spectacular but the walk took us through groves of huge Redwood trees. What a site to behold! Sherri said she felt like Alice in Wonderland. Very few people on the trails which made the peace and quite all that more spectacular! If you haven't been here before, it is a must see. The rangers at the National Park information center in town gave us good advice on what to see and do in the short period of time that we had planned here.